Alliance Trust sells off £140m share in move to Asia

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But in a bold move the trust, run by Katherine Garrett-Cox, upped its stake in BP during June in the wake of the Gulf of Mexico disaster. It bought shares at 332p which now stand at 404p.

Alliance completely sold out of Charter, Great Portland, Hays, BAE Systems and BG Group and cut its stakes in Carnival Cruises, Rio Tinto and Smiths Group.

Garrett-Cox said: "We are sanguine about Western markets. Sovereign debt levels, weakness in the housing market and worries over consumer spending make us cautious."

The trust's net asset value rose 3.8% to 392.2p a share between the end of January and the end of July. Despite losing £3 million of income if BP does not pay a dividend this year Garrett Cox is confident the trust will raise its full-year pay-out to at least 8.25p a share - the 44th consecutive year it has raised its dividend.